2 JANUARY 19,2015
. THEBLUEBANNER.NET
NEWS
What type of residence hall
would you want to live in?
Project management firm sizes up
potential new options for new
dormitory on campus.
CALLIE JENNINGS
Staff News Writer
The spring 2016 semester just
began, but renovations for old
residence halls are already in the
works, as well as tentative plans
for a brand new residence hall,
hopefully ready to open fall of
2018.
“It is still a proposal. In fact,
we just presented some of it to the
University Planning Council, or
UPC, on Thursday,” said Nancy
Yeager, associate vice chancellor
for Student Affairs Administra
tion. “The most important thing
is that this needs to be a residence
hall that students want to live in.
I always want to make sure that
the student is at the center of our
decisions.”
Brail sford & Dunlavey, a pro
gram management firm, con
ducted a market study last spring
both on and off campus to de
termine what type of residence
halls students want. Brailsford
& Dunlavey considered overall
demand, price comparisons, peer
reviews with other UNC systems
and student surveys, Yeager said.
Additionally, they conducted in
dividual meetings with students,
staff and some faculty in order to
generate a report- showcasing the
need for a new residence hall.
“They felt that we could easi
ly accommodate a 300-bed resi
dence hall, but this time what our
students are looking for are apart
ments,” Yeager said. “We don’t
have any apartments on campus,
and that is one area where we are
at a competitive disadvantage
with the rest of the schools in our
system.”
If an apartment-style residence
hall were built, each unit would
likely have full kitchens, four
bedrooms and two bathrooms, or
some variation of these options.
Initial thoughts from Yeager also
gear this hall to be a primary up
perclassman residence hall, not
for freshmen.
“None of the design has hap
pened yet,” Yeager said. “So,
what the buildings would look
like, whether or not it would be
multiple smaller buildings as op
posed to one large building, is
still undecided.”
Ideas about the new residence-
hall, however, have been vast,
such as the creation of a living
learning community or year-
round housing, Yeager said.
Additionally, the possibility of
opening them to faculty for sum
mer use, having parking near the
buildings and the overall level of
sustainability have been consid
ered.
The board of trustees already
approved the new residence hall
proposal,, followed by advanced
planning approval by the board
of governors. Currently, the UPC,
comprising students, faculty and
staff, is reviewing the 13 bids
received from an open ad. From
there, the design process can be
gin.
“The UPC are sending me their
evaluations, and I am consolidat
ing them to invite between six to
eight bids to give presentations,”
Yeager said. “From that group,
the UPC would narrow it down
again to three in priority order,
which would be sent back to the
board of trustees for their Febru-
)
—
..S'
I
Ut*
ttc.'
\,
W
o o
r" h D H I X
liite trKi rt
8a|{ P4fe>v4A/ .
Photos by Callie Jennings - Staff News Writer
NEW BEGINNINGS: Mills Hall encouraged students to write
any and ail ideas they had for upgrades. Some, like new
filtered water fountains, have already been added.
The Blue Banner
Spring 2015
Editorial Board
Editor-In-Chief
James Neal, jneal@gpca.edu
News Editor
Larisa Karr, lakarr@unca.edu
Sports Editor
Harrison Slaughter, jslaught@unca.edu
Arts & Features Editor
Phillip Wyatt, pwyatt@unca.edu
Copy Desk Chief
Barbie Byrd, bbyrd1@unca.edu
Layout & Design Editor
Makeda Sandfprd, rnsandfor@unca.edu
Photography Editor
Johnny Condon, jcondon@unca.edu
Multimedia Editor
Neve Pollard, npollar1@unca.edu
Social Media Editor
Meredith Bumgarner, mbumgarn@unca.edu
Voice Editor
John Mallow, jmallow@unca.edu
Opinion Editor
June Bunch, kbunch@unca.edu
Copy Editors
Shanee Simhoni, ssimhoni@unca.edu
Rebecca Andrews, randrew1@unca.edu
Advertising Manager
Amber Abunassar, aabunass@unca.edu
Faculty Adviser
Michael Gouge, mgouge@unca.edu
Distribution Manager
Carson Wall, cwall1@unca.edu
Staff
Callie Jennings, Josh Alexander, Zena Zangwill,
Charles Heard, Eli Choplin, Wyatt Manlove,
Drew Heinz, Lee Elliott, Will Quastrom, Megan
Authement, Erika Williams, Roan Farb, Ayneric
Assemat, Calla Hinton, Nick Haseloff, Phillip
Carwane, Emily Henderson, Joshua-Shuford,
Forest Lyons.
Follow Us:
©TheBlueBanner
The Blue Banner
@thebluebanner
Have a news tip?
Send to jneal@unca.edu
The Blue Banner is UNC
Asheville's student newspaper.
We publish each Wednesday
except during summer
sessions, finals week and
loliday breaks. Our office is .
ocated in Karpen Hall 019.
The Blue Banner is a
designated forum for free
speech and welcomes letters
to the editor, considering them
on basis of interest, space and
timeliness. Letters and articles
should be emailed to the
aditor-jn-chief or the
appropriate section editor.
Letters should include the
writer's name, year in school,
and major or other relationship
to UNCA. Include a telephone
number to aid in verification.
All articles are subject
to editing.